At Netrush, innovation is hardwired into everything we do, with research and data driving our decision making to best serve our brand partners. Behind all those numbers are the people who make it all possible. We recently sat down to talk a little shop about Netrush Labs with Bethany Lowery, Digital Marketing Research Analyst extraordinaire.

First and foremost, what is Labs?

Labs is a team of analysts that provide resources for learning and innovation. We conduct market research, manage and offer support for validations, track and report KPIs (key performance indicators), and help identify and clarify strategic opportunities for our brand partners and for Netrush.

When was it initiated?

March 2019.

Who else is on the Labs team?

What triggers a category analysis?

There are many things that can trigger a Category Analysis. The most common triggers for new or potential partners are when Netrush gets close to signing a brand, and we want to show potential and our expertise. We also perform them if the potential partner competes in a category that is new to Netrush, or Netrush wants to understand how the brand is performing on Amazon to help develop action steps. The most common triggers for current partners are when the brand’s launching a new product line, or Netrush needs research and insights to inform an upcoming marketing proposal and plan.

What are some key successes Labs has had so far?

The Labs team has had a lot of successes so far. One of the biggest has been the growth of the Labs team! The development and demand for Category Analyses have also been a key success for Labs. Category Analyses have helped Netrush showcase our expertise on Amazon and develop brand plans and proposals. Another success is moving towards assisting multiple departments with research, testing, and validations.

Some other successes Labs has had are the insights we were able to find through our research, specifically in advertising. We’ve performed research around benchmarks for programs to help Netrush plan for consumer packaged goods (CPG) advertising performance with a focus on the effectiveness of cheaper and smaller variations, year-over-year advertising metrics, and more!

What challenges do Labs face?

One of the biggest challenges is getting access to Amazon data. Amazon has a lot of interesting and useful data that is not provided to sellers. Another challenge is that some research contains large data sets that require the Labs team to find and organize manually, so it can be time-consuming. However, Netrush’s IT and Business Systems Analyst teams have been extremely helpful in moving Labs forward in data collection, organization, and visualization.

One challenge we have, which is a good problem to have is the growth in demand for Labs’ services. We’re continuing to figure out how to scale and prioritize requests as they increase. Soon we’ll have space in DevOps to manage all ideas and requests that come our way.

What is Labs greatest strength?

Our eagerness to learn, research and identify insights and strategic opportunities for our partners and Netrush.